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OR,
VOL. I.]
Tili3 W ISHINETONIAN.
PUBLISHED BY JAMES McCAFFERTY,
TWICE EVERY MONTH.
Office on Macintosh street—opposite the Post Office.
ft , . TERMS.
f* or a copy, for oue year, One Dollar ; for six
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Y'P * MMH ——— II II !■■■■—l—ML-L——
The Dru kard’s Bible.
President, said a short, stout man, with
Ka go i.l-auinored countenanre, ail a florid com -
; (flexion, rising . s toe last speaker took his seat.—
■ I have been a tavern keeper. ’
fe/A At tins anuotin .lent there was a movement \
Hut' ; u - 1 * *• whole room, and an expression of j
interest.
Yes.olr. President," tie went on, “I have
Hfchi en .t tavern keeper, and many a glass I have ;
P*fe"ld to you, and to your Secretary there, and to
t ‘ dozens ot others that I sec here' 3 —glancino a-
T" round upon the company.
" 1 hat’s a tact, ’ broke in the President, “nia- ,
ny a gin toddy and brandy punch have I taken J
’« at your bar. But times arc changed now, and I
we have begun to earn- tile war into the enemy’s ;
* cainp. And our war has not been altogether !
unsuccessful, for we have taken prisoner one of
the rum sellers’ bravest Generals! But go on
friend W., let us have your experience.' 1
, “Asto my experience, Mr. President,’ the ex-1
tavern keeper resumed, ‘in rum-selling and rum
drinking, for I have done a good deal of both in
my time, that would be rather too long to tell i
to-night—and one that I had much rather forget
than relate. It makes me tremble and sick at 1
heart, whenever I look upon the evil Ihavedonc. |
1, therefore, usually look ahead with the hope of
doing some good to my fellow men.
But there is one incident that 1 will relate.— j
. For the last five years, a hard working mechanic, |
with a wife and seven small children, came regtt-1
iarly, almost every night, to my tavern, and spent
the evening in my bar-room. lie came to drink,
of course, and many and many a dollar of his
hard earnings went into my till. At last he be
came a perfect sot —working scarcely one-fourth
of his time, and spending ah he earned in liquor.
, His poor wife had to take in washing to support
herself and children, while he spent his time and j
the little he could make, at my bar. But his ap- i
petite for liquor was so strong, that his week’s
'■% earnings were usually all gone by Tuesday or
AVednesday, and then I had to chalk up a score
% against him, to be paid off when Saturday night
• came. This score gradually increased, until it
amounted to three or four dollars over his Satur
day night’s pay, when I refused to sell him any
more liquor until it was settled. On the day at'-!
ter I had thus refused him, he came in with a 1
neat mourning breast-pin, enclosing some hair— j
no doubt, I thought, of a deceased relative. ' Phis '
he offered in payment of what he owed. I ac
f cepted it, for the pin I saw at once was worth i
double the amount of my bill. I did not think,
nor indeed care about the question, whether he I
was the owner or not; I wanted my own, and in j
t my selfish eagerness to get it, I hesitated not to i
take a little more than my own.
I laid the breast-pin awav, anti all things went j
on smoothly for a while. But he. gradually got j
behind hand again, and again I cut otrhis sup- j
ply of liquor. This time he brought me a pair of
brass andirons, and a pair of brass candle-sticks, \
and I took them and wiped off the score against!
him. At last he brought a large family Bible, j
and I took that too—thinking no doubt I could j
sell it for something.
On tiie Sunday a tier wards, having nothing to \
do— for ! used to shut my bar on Sundays, think
ing it was not respectable to sell liquor on that
day—l opened this poor drunkard’s family Bible,
scarcely thinking of what i was doing. The
first place 1 turned to was the family record.
There it was stated, that, upon a certain day, he
had been married to Emily o I had known
Emily , when 1 was a young man, very well.
and had once thought seriously of offering my
self to her in marriage. 1 remembered her happy
young face, and seemed suddenly to hCar a tone ;
of her merry laughter.
“ Poor creature!” I sighed involuntarily as a
thought of her present condition crossi d my
mind —anil then with no very pleasant feelings I
turned over another leaf. There was the record
of the birth ol her four children; the. last had
I been made recently, and was in the mother’s
hand.
I never had such strange feelings as now came
over me. I felt that l had no business with this ,
book; but I tried to stifle my feelings, and turned
over several leaves quickly. As 1 suffered my
eyes to rest upon an open page, these words ar- ’
rested my attention.
TOTAL ABSTINENCE ADVOCATE.
AUGUSTA, GA. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1842.
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging;
whoso is deceived thereby is not wise.”
1 his was just the subject, that, under the feel
ings I then had, I wished to avoid, and so 1 re
ferret! to another place. There I read:
“ Who hath wo! who hath sorrow! who hath
wounds'? who hath babbling? who hath redness
ot eyes? They that tarry long at the wine. A 1
last it bifeth like a serpent, it stingeth like an ad
der.”
I felt like throwing the book from me; but
once more I turned the leaves, and my eyes rest
ed upon these words—
“ Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor
drink; that puttest thy bottle to him and makest
himdtunk.”
I closed the hook suddenly, and threw it down.
Then, for half an hour, I paced the room back
wards and forwards in a state of mind I never
before experienced. I had become painfullycon
scious of the direful evils resulting from intem
perance, and still more painfully conscious, that
i had been a willing instrument in the spread of
these evils. 1 cannot tell how much I suffered
during that day and night, nor describe the fear
ful conflict that took place in my mind, between
a selfish love of the gains of my calling, and the
plain dictates of truth and humanity. It was a
hout!) o’clock, I think, on that evening, that I
opened the Drunkard’s Bible again, witti a kind
of despairing hope that I should meet there with
something to direct me. I opened at the Psalms,
and read two or three chapters. As I read on,
without finding any thing directly to my case, I
felt an increasing desire to abandon my calling,
because it was injurious to my fellow men. Al
ter I had read the Bible, I retired to bed, but
could not sleep. lam sure that during that night
1 thought of every drunken man to whom I had
sold liquor, and of all their beggared families. In
the brief sleep that 1 obtained, I dreamed that I
saw a long line of tottering drunkards, with their
wives and children in rags. And a loud voice
said—
“ AVho hath done this?”
The answer, in a still louder voice, directed, I
felt, to me, smote upon my ear like a peal of
thunder—
“ Thou art the man !”
From this troubled slumber I awoke to sleep
no more that night. In the morning the last and
the most powerful conflict came. The question
o be decided, was—
“ Shall I open my tavern, or at once abandon
the dreadful traffic in liquid poison !”
Happily, 1 decided never to put to any man’s
lips the cup of confusion. My next step was, to
turn the spicket of every keg or barrel of spirits,
wine, beer, or cider, and let the contents escape
on the floor. My bottles and decanters were
likewise emptied. Then I came and signed your
Total Abstinence Pledge; and what is better,
never rested until I had persuaded the man whose
Bible had been of so much use to me, to sign the
Pledge likewise.
And now, Mr. President, I am keeping a Tem
perance Grocery, and am making restitution as
fast as possible. There are at least half a dozen
families, that mv tavern helped to make poor and
wretched, to whom I furnish a small quantity of
groceries every week, in many cases equal to the
amount that used to he spent at my bar for liquor.
Four of my oldest and best customers have alrea
dy signed the Pledge by my persuasion, and lam
not going to rest, until every man that I helped
to ruin, is restored to himself, his family, and so
.-"'''’"indian Temperance Lecture. V
In one of our late numbers, wo published an ac
count of the formation of a Washingtonian Soci
ety among the Choctaws. The spirit of the refor
mation has not, however, been confined to this
tribe. The Creeks have taken up the matter, and
are endeavouring to free themselves from the
slavery of a habit, which has been entailed upon
them by their white brethren. We arc indebted
to the kindness of a subscriber, for the sub joined
copy of a temperance lecture delivered lately, by
one oftheir most celebrated chiefs. Gen. Mclntosh
It wil we doubt not, be read with interest. — Ch.
Total Abstinence Banner.
From the Arkansas Intelligencer.
Among the different laws passed at the recent
Creek council, and indeed we might almost say
the most important, is one in relation to the intro
duction of whiskey into the nation. The Creeks
passed a law at the meeting of their council in
1841 which was intended to stop the great traffic
in whiskey among their people, but which failed
to accomplish the desired object. The Chiefs,
head men and warriors, seeing that this grand
enemy of their people wa.s gradually extending
his power over them, and carrying along with
him his usual trail of evils, determined to make
another effort to banish him from their country.
We hope they may be successful. The last law
provides that no person shall bring spirituous !i
quors into the Creek nation except for his own
use, it being deemed too great an infringement of
the liberty of an Indian to prohibit him entirely
from importing the “ critter.” This law further
provides that any person violating it shall be pun
ished as follows: Fot the first offence their li
quor shall be seized and spilt, for the second of
ienco their liquor shall he seized and spilt, and
the person offending shall receive twenty-five
lashes; for the third olfence, the liquor to be spilt,
and the offender to be handed over to the law
makers of the t own to which he belongs, whose
prerogative it is to say what the punishment shall
be. With the Creeks the punishment for the
third offence is generally death. This law was
introduced and warmly advocated by Gen. Chil
ley Mclntosh, an intelligent, worthy, and influ
ential Creek Indian, from whom we obtain the
substance of his speech in favor of the passage of
the law, and which is nearly as follows.
“ Gentlemen of the Committe: —You are now
in full council; and the special business at present
before you is to enact a suitable law, interdicting
tile introduction of whiskey into our nation, —
Whiskey is a bad thing—it is an evil spirit, we
know that it is evil, and that it has been the bane
ot our country; and it has caused the ruin of our
people.
“ The strength ofour people is like the oak in
the forest; the limbs, the leaves, and the fruit are
green and rich; its branches are heavy and line,
and under its shade the wild animals rest, and
the birds sit upon its boughs; so with our young
men; their limbs are. strong, they are swift, an 3
their hearts are very brave and wise; they are a
shelter and protection to their wives, and their
children sit in their arms.
“ But the lightning of the storm, when it opens
a bright path through the black cloud, can strike
the oak, and lay its beauty in the dust, bring
low its strength and grandeur.
“So the lightning from the evil fire-water
strikes my people; then they reel, stagger, and
fall; they stab their friends, and are no longer a
protection to their lodges; they cannot stand in
the might of manhood, but, they wallow in the
mud like a beast
“Brothers, the evil spirit is mighty; it makes my
people howl and groan upon the ground—and
the whitoman, us he passes by, says, “ Here lies
an Indian dog—he is drunk,” and the warrior
who feared no blow, lays still and cannot defend
his honor.
“ AVarriors, who of you is not brave—who of
you is not wise—who ol'you is not swift—who
of you would fear to strike a foe ? Your arms are
long, anil may reach your enemy—your cunning
is great and can hide you from him,’ but the evil
spirit is strong and cuts the heart~it consumes
the life ofthe hcart--anil who is brave with an
eaten heart ? AVho can stand and the fire-water
burning his veins ? Can the warrior touch him
and not fear—can lie take him into his bosom
and not fall ? The warrior has love for his home,
his people, and his honor; the evil spirit has none
and seeks to destroy the warrior’s. AVho will
suffer it—who will he tamed by the hot liquor ’till
lie is like a kicked dog. AVho will not lift his arm
and say this enemy—this fire-water shall begone |
and shall destroy no more? AVarriors, your
strength, your wisdom, your cunning says, touch
no whiskey; husbands, fathers, and brothers,
your love, your happiness, your homes, cry
against the evil spirit, and your young children
are fearful—who shall teach them bravery, wis
dom. and love if the father be dead in liquor!
“ Brothers, our brave and great red brethren,
the Cherokces and Choctaws, have passed laws
prohibiting the traffic in fire-water. They arc
wise—their chiefs are cunning, and they scent
the enemy. This law is doing them good—their
lodge hearths and their fields arc green; they sit
down in peace and rise refreshed.
“ Let us follow their example. If we make a
good law on this subject, and carry it into effect,
our people will also smile—our children will
laugh, our women be strong, and our nation will
be happy.
“ Brothers, I do not wish you to keep your
heart closed; 1 wish you to open it wide that good
may come in, and drive out the evil; I wish you
to speak your minds freely like men—like warri
ors—like counsellors; my heart is white; I love
my people and my country; whiskey is their ene
my—it does much harm, and makes enemies of
friends; therefore I hate it. AVithit nty people
are bad and weak; without it they are good and
strong; without it they would tie good warriors,
good husbands, good fathers and good citizens.
“ Brothers, pass this law against whiskey, and
drive the fire-water far from your heart and na
tion; let it never more wet your lips— then will
you become great and happy.”
“No oue past Reclaiming.”
When Wright and Pollard w r ere at New
burgh, the following incident occurred, which is j
but one case out of thousands that might be men- 1
fioned, tending to show that the most hopeless
dvunkard may be reclaimed and saved from the
wretchedness of intemperance; therefore, let no
one despair. We copy from the Newburgh Ga
zette.
One Saturday Evening as Mr. Wright was lec
turing on the Ferry Dock, a fortnight since, to a
crowded audience, a poor drunken wretch, bare
footed and lagged—so lilthy as to be disgusting to
all around—staggered along and seated himself
on the steps ot the Ferry House—so drunk as
scarcely to be able to sit up. Even in this condi
tion his attention was arrested by the remarks of
the speaker, who, on observing him, appealed to
t he audience with almost irresistible eloquence in
behuif of the miserable drunkard! This mass of
drunkenness rose—staggered to the box on which
Mr. Wright stood, amidst the sneers and the
scotls ot many, and as lie was held up, scrawled
some illegible characters upon the pledge; this
having done, he staggered back again to his seat,
weeping and wringing his hands! “ Nonsense!”
“foolery!” “humbug!” were the exclamations
that were heard. He will never keep the pledge”
—“hasn’t been sober for months!” “Is the
greatest drunkard in Newburgh!” “He uill
keep his Pledge” said Mr. Wright, “but if he
fills, it is the fault nf the audience and the Tem
perance community, into whose hands J commit
him!”
“ Well gentlemen,” continued the speaker, “at
the close of Mr. Wright’s address that night, he
came to me, being nearly sober, and begged for
something to eat —had eat nothing all day —was
almost starved—give him something to eat and
made him promise to call on me the next Monday
morning. Well Monday came, but he came not,
the week passed by and he was not to be heard of,
sure enough he had “ tricked ” us, and doubtless,
was a drunkard still! A fortnight rolled by and
I met a man this afternoon in the street, cleanly
and neatly dressed, face shaved and with a smile
accosted me very civilly and inquired if I knew
him. Hooked a minute, and sure enough I did
know him! It was the same that signed the
pledge, butoh how changed! He assured me he
had not I.isled a drop since that evening he sign
ed the pledge, and now felt no desire to. The
noble fellow had been absent for his poor wife
and children, who had inhumanly been thrust
from their dwelling by the cruelty of their land
lord, in consequence of his drunkenness! He
had earned money enough during the fortnight,
and had restored his wife and children to the same
home, whence they had been driven though the
neglect of a drunken father and husband! But
now they were happy and rejoicing with the pros
pect, that one so dear could be saved from a
drunkard’s grave!”
“And,” resumed the speaker, “ I invited him
to attend this meeting— he is here and his happy
little boy besides him, and, I presume, is not
ashamed to spea k for himself—”
Here the speaker was interrupted by a man
rising from his seat and with deep emotion, stri
vingtogive utterance to words—“l—l—l am
the man! and thanks be to God—unworthy
wretch as I have been— with His help I have re
solved never! never to taste the accursed thing
any more!”
Reader! can it be in thy heart to oppose the
progress of this work 1 Will you— dare you, any
longer in the sight of God! withhold fromityour
influence and example ? Beware!
Hurra!
Washingtonianism still triumphant.—lt is the
only thing in the world that will break up grog
shops and rum-taverns, and stop tho mouth of tfic
still. Legal interference only exasperates the
rum-seller. Nothing but kindness, persuasion,
remonstrance and the presentation of facts, will
ever operate on those engaged in the traffic.
Rum venders and makers are men, and many of
them men of respectability and influence in the
community, and we must, therefore, treat them
with as much respect as any other class; onlvlet
us never give countenance to their traffic. 'lt is
with extreme pleasure we announce the good
tidings that the manufacture of “ distilled damna
tion’ 1 in Virginia, has already received a blow
that will in a short time greatly diminish its pro
duction. In proof of this we have only to state
that manufacturers in the surrounding counties
find so little use for their murderous apparatus,
that they are compelled to send it to this city and
sell it as old copper. Mr. Denoon. the enter
prising proprietor of the Bell and Brass Foundry
on Main-street, informs us that he has purchased
a large number of stills lately, the owners, we
believe, having become disgusted with the busi
ness. One man, who was in the habit of manu
facturing, annually, a large quantity of apple
brandy, had to give it up because “he could'nt
get any one to buy the stuff” This is the kind
of force we use. Hurra! for total abstinence!—
Tee-tolaler.
[No. 9.